The chief investment officer of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Limited suggested Wednesday that the current low-yield outlook for traditional bond and equity investments has left the GIC taking a more tactical, opportunistic approach in managing its portfolio, and open to extending more mandates to alternative asset managers.
Lim Chow Kiat, GIC’s group CIO, said in the current environment expectations for the rewards of “simply holding diversified assets and waiting” have to be lowered………………………………………..Full Article: Source

GIC Pte, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, is buying stakes in Brazilian companies in a sign of confidence the world’s second-largest emerging market will overcome slower growth.
GIC bought 5.02 percent of communications technology provider Linx SA (LINX3), according to a March 10 filing by Linx. This month, it increased its stake in Sao Paulo-based food processor BRF SA (BRFS3) and in October agreed to invest in water and sewage treatment company Aegea Saneamento e Participacoes SA………………………………………..Full Article: Source

GIC will maintain price discipline in its investing decisions, said the sovereign wealth fund’s chief investment officer Mr Lim Chow Kiat, at the annual conference of the Investment Management Association of Singapore on Wednesday afternoon.
This is one of the five principles that guide GIC in making its asset allocation decisions. Although the global market may be volatile, GIC still remains focused on fundamentals when investing the nation’s wealth………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Australian fund managers are eying an increasingly liquid market: water. A state-run system giving farmers fixed allocations for river water flowing into the country’s agricultural heartland is tempting speculators to buy up those rights in anticipation of higher prices.
A specialist fund manager, Blue Sky Alternative Investments Ltd., recently raised 20 million Australian dollars (US$18 million) to pour into the fledgling market, following earlier moves by San Diego, Calif.-based Summit Global and VicSuper, one of Australia’s biggest pension funds………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Russia’s finance ministry said on Wednesday it will wait for at least another two weeks before resuming daily foreign currency purchases to transfer excess revenues to one of its sovereign wealth funds, partly because the rouble is too weak.
The ministry indicated last month that it would convert around $5.8 billion to add to its $87 billion Reserve Fund, one of two sovereign funds financed from oil taxes. It needs to convert the funds into foreign currency and announced a gradual transfer that would involve it buying the equivalent of 3.5 billion roubles ($95.8 million) a day over three months………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norway’s export industry is buckling under the weight of the country’s wealth. Prime Minister Erna Solberg says that Scandinavia’s richest nation now needs to rein in budget spending to stop eroding trade competitiveness.
Backed by a US$850 billion sovereign wealth fund, Norway is struggling to spur growth as wages that far exceed the European average hold back the economy. That’s killing jobs in a nation that has been accustomed to having one of Europe’s lowest unemployment rates………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norway’s largest political party wants to look into revamping oversight of the nation’s $850 billion sovereign wealth fund amid questions around its handling of an investment in Formula One.
The opposition Labor Party is responding to local media reports questioning whether the state-run fund followed its mandate when it invested in the auto racing group ahead of a planned initial public offering. The fund can only buy private equity if a company is planning to sell shares to go public. Formula One’s IPO was subsequently canceled………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is examining the operations of oil firm Total in Western Sahara, a disputed region of North Africa with a history of human rights abuses, to ascertain whether its activities there are unethical.
The $850-billion fund, which invests Norway’s revenues from oil and gas for future generations, invests only in companies it considers ethical, and has blacklisted 63 firms, including makers of nuclear arms, anti-personnel landmines, cluster bombs and tobacco………………………………………..Full Article: Source

An appeal has been made to the Supervisory Board to make amendments in 2014 budget of Azerbaijan State Oil Fund, Executive Director of the State Oil Fund Shahmar Movsumov told journalists, APA-Economics reports.
He said the amendment envisages allocation of funds to form $51 million capital of the new company established to manage gas projects under the decree of Azerbaijani President. “These funds are not envisaged in the budget. But this is presented by the State Oil Fund as direct investment and is a long-term investment,” he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) begins forming the capital of the state company on the management of the Southern Gas Corridor project. SOFAZ executive director Shahmar Movsumov says that now the Fund’s Supervisory Board is considering a change in the SOFAZ budget for 2014 for payment of the capital of this company.
“$51 million to be financed for the gas project management company will be directed for the formation of its capital. These finances have not been envisaged in the Oil Fund’s budget, and will be directed as long-term investments,” Movsumov said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan actively purchasing physical gold will deliver its whole gold reserve to Baku before the end of the year. According to Shahmar Movsumov, SOFAZ Executive Director, over recent 2 years the Fund has purchased 30 tons of gold.
“20 tons of purchased gold is already in the country and the rest 10 tons will be delivered to the country before the end of the year. We purchased the last batch of gold at the price of $1,200 for ounce. Now one ounce of gold is already $1,350-1,360 and the price is still growing. However, the price is not so important for us, as our goal is to create gold reserves”, - Movsumov said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company of Qatar Investment Authority is to open a regional office in Washington D.C. to pursue new strategic investments throughout the western hemisphere.
The office will be located in City Center D.C. complex, Qatari Diar ’s flagship North American development currently nearing completion in conjunction with Hines. Designed by Foster + Partners, City Center D.C. is a 148,000sqm urban redevelopment programme in the heart of downtown Washington D.C………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Zimbabwe should set up its sovereign wealth fund when it achieves budget surplus to avoid worsening budget deficits, Norway’s former deputy minister of finance Mr Vidar Ovesen said. Norway manages the world’s largest SWFs and has contributed about US$60 billion to the country’s fiscus from the more than US$850 billion revenue derived from petroleum since its set up in 1990.
Ovesen made the remarks during a seminar in Harare yesterday to educate law makers on the country’s new economic plan: the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation………………………………………..Full Article: Source